EF3 tornado, Mc David to Pollard, Florida, February 15, 2016

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mphthis tornado

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF3

Date

February 15, 2016

Touchdown

3:32 PM CST (21:32 UTC)

Lifted

3:55 PM CST (21:55 UTC)

On the ground

23 minutes

Path length

16.4 miles (26.5 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

3

Property damage

$5.8 million

Counties

Escambia and Escambia counties

Touchdown point

30.871, -87.381

Lift-off point

31.040, -87.186

Record number

1602151532-01

25 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 152 mph.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

Severe thunderstorms developed across the Florida Panhandle during the afternoon and evening of February 15th as a strong upper level disturbance moved from the southern Plains to the Tennessee Valley. The severe storms developed along and ahead of the trailing cold front, producing both tornadoes and straight line wind damage.

Severe thunderstorms developed across southwest and south central Alabama during the afternoon and evening of February 15th as a strong upper level disturbance moved from the southern Plains to the Tennessee Valley. The severe storms developed along and ahead of the trailing cold front, producing both tornadoes and straight line wind damage.

This tornado developed from an isolated supercell thunderstorm. The tornado first touched down southwest of Lambert-Ridge Road southeast of McDavid. The tornado gradually increased in strength and width as it continued northeast toward Century. The first EF-2 intensity damage noted was on Holland Drive where a workshop was completely destroyed. The tornado reached its peak intensity (widespread EF-2 damage with isolated EF-3 damage) as it moved into Century. Numerous homes were damaged or destroyed. A couple of homes experienced complete loss of the roof with only the walls of small interior rooms remaining. Extensive tree damage was noted with numerous softwood and hardwood trees either uprooted or snapped. Numerous power poles were also snapped. The tornado continued to track northeast out of Century and moved across the Florida Alabama state line into Escambia County Alabama.

This tornado was produced from an isolated supercell thunderstorm. The tornado moved northeast out of Escambia County Florida and into Escambia County AL just east of Flomaton. EF-2 intensity damage was surveyed on Old Fannie Road. The tornado continued northeast toward Pollard where it weakened and lifted. Extensive tree damage was noted with numerous softwood and hardwood trees either uprooted or snapped. Several power poles were also snapped.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

11 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:21 UTC, 11 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:06 UTC and running to 00:54 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in FloridaEvery tornado in Florida since 1950Warnings in force in Florida nowThe forecast where you are

16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.